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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Tina’s 2013 Top 10

Is it too early to count down my top 10 art supplies and
tools for the year? Last year I waited until after Christmas to succumb to that
media cliché. But since the retail holidays arrive earlier and earlier each
year, why not jump on that bandwagon, too?

A few comments before I get to the list: If you compare this
year’s list to my 2012 Top 10 list,
you’ll see that seven of the 10 products remain the same (marked with *). Since
my reasons for keeping a product on the list probably haven’t changed, you can
refer to the 2012 countdown for more details. I also changed the criteria
slightly. Last year I chose my top 10 favorite products, even if I didn’t use
them often. The Cretacolor Nero extrasoft pencil and Faber-Castell PITT Big Brush Artist Pens are still my favorites in their respective categories of graphite
pencils and permanent markers. But they fell off the list this year because I
tend to use them only for specific types of sketching (life drawing in both
cases). This year’s list reflects my top 10 most-often-used products as well as
my favorites. Like last year, except for Nos. 1 and 2, the numbering does not
necessarily indicate a ranking.

10. Handbound sketchbooklets. My little handmade sketchbooklets made it onto the top 10
not simply because I’m pleased as punch with the way they came out. It’s not really
even the booklets themselves; it’s more the idea
of having a need that couldn’t be filled with something store-bought, so I had
to resolve it by making the solution myself. (See No. 1 below for more on this
concept.)

5. * Escoda Reserva Sable Travel Brush. This brush is still on the list, though with some
ambivalence. You can read my thoughts on how the waterbrush is generally my preference in the field. But this
past summer and fall, I used the Escoda frequently for painting skies, and I
know my waterbrush isn’t up to that task. Having to remember to bring a water
container used to be what kept me from using the Escoda more. But I found that a
small lid from a plastic milk bottle is deep enough to swish the brush around
once or twice, and I can carry that easily in my everyday bag, so the brush
gets used more often now.

4. * Diamine Chocolate Brown ink. This warm, rich hue is still my favorite for sketching
indoor scenes. In general, Liverpool-made Diamine inks are the best-behaved I
have used, at a very reasonable price.

3. * Platinum Carbon Black ink. At $20 a bottle, this Japanese ink is pricier than most. On the
other hand, I use it almost daily, and I’ve hardly made a dent in the bottle
that I first opened a year-and-a-half ago. It’s probably one of my best
sketching investments.

1. My “Stefano” sketchbook system. If you read my blog regularly, then you’ve already heard
me go on and on about this leather sketchbook cover (custom-made for me by Stefano
Bramato of BroLeatherWorks) and its
many advantages. (If you haven’t heard me go on, please indulge me.) But beyond all of those advantages, the
Stefano is No. 1 because it opened up a whole new source of creative joy when I discovered bookbinding.
That’s why I call it a sketchbook “system”: It includes the entire process of
initially stitching the signatures with various papers of my choice; carrying
slim individual signatures instead of a heavy sketchbook; and finally
handbinding a collection of signatures into a finished book.

Honorable mention goes to my hard-working Rickshaw Bagworks bag.

Honorable Mention: Since it’s not an art material and not
exactly a tool, I haven’t been putting my Rickshaw Bagworks bag on my Top 10. But I’ve used the term “workhorse” to describe
several products on the list for their hardy, everyday reliability. Surely my
bag deserves honorable mention for being the hardest-working horse of all, hauling
my art supplies (and everything else) day after day.